THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 33 



SYNOPSIS OF THE ASILID GENUS BLACODES. 



BY D. W. COQUILLETT, LOS ANGELES, CAL. 



Up to the present time but a single species of Blacodes has been 

 described from the United States : B. bellus, Loew, from Texas. I give 

 herewith descriptions of three other species, and present a table to aid 

 in identifying them : — 



i Wings largely hyaline, abdomen and femora black 2 



Wings black, abdomen and femora red bellus Lw. 



2 Thorax destitute of a crest of hairs, scutellum bearing only two 



bristles, tibia? yellow , 3 



Thorax furnished with a crest of hairs, scutellum bearing four bristles, 

 tibiae black „ cristatus, n. sp. 



3 Anal cell open, second submarginal cell appendiculate 



truncus, n. sp. 



Anal cell closed, second submarginal cell not appendiculate 



.clausus, n. sp. 



Blacodes cristatus, n. sp., ? . 



Wholly black, the tibia? slightly piceous. Head light gray pollinose, 

 that in middle of the front dark brown ; face moderately convex, mystax 

 black and white, very dense and extending nearly to the antennas; first 

 joint of antennae slightly longer than the second ; third joint lanceolate, 

 three times as long as the second joint ; style slender, slightly over half 

 as long as the third joint. Thorax very convex, gray pollinose and 

 marked with a broad blackish-brown geminate median stripe, which is 

 considerably dilated outwardly behind the middle ; on each side of this 

 stripe is a broad, irregular, blackish-brown stripe extending but little in 

 front of the middle of the dorsum ; the median brown stripe bears num- 

 erous black and light yellow pile, which, on the anterior portion, forms 

 a nearly erect crest ; bristles of thorax black and light yellow ; pleura 

 mottled light gray and dark brown pollinose, the pile white ; the fan-like 

 row of bristles in front of the halteres is white. Scutellum brown polli- 

 nose and densely white pilose, the four marginal bristles black. Metano- 

 tum shining black, a large silvery white spot each side. Abdomen 

 shining bluish-black, marked with light gray pollen as follows : A spot on 

 sides of first segment, a transverse anterior and two posterior lateral 



